So Far in Second Year

My busiest term at Imperial to date

It’s fair to say that this term has been the most enjoyable term I have had so far at Imperial and I can’t wait to tell you all about it. It’s been super busy, I’m not sure how I managed to keep up with everything and still not skip any (most) lectures! Alongside juggling my degree in maths, I’ve also spent this term applying for internships, being on a few committees and running events as a student ambassador.

Netballin’

Often when people think about studying at such an academic university as Imperial, their immediate thought isn’t about all the extra curricular activities they will be able to take part in. However for me, being in these committees and societies has become such an integral part of my life. Everyone will always talk about how great being on a committee looks on your CV and sure, that’s true. But for me getting involved so much has allowed me to feel more settled and feel like I’m a part of something important. I’ve enjoyed helping make a difference to people’s university experiences for the better.

In this post I will briefly talk about the various opportunities I’ve had this term and promise to dedicate my next few posts to expanding on some of my favourite of these opportunities!

What have I been up to?

As a part of the student shapers programme, I was lucky enough to be selected to be a Mathematics Student Ambassador. Working with 4 other Maths students, we created a scavenger hunt, not in halls event and student panel for the new freshers. Although we had to come in to work during the last few weeks of the summer holidays, we had a lot of fun creating clues and activities for the scavenger hunt and trying out our ideas on our friends. The freshers enjoyed all of our events and it’s been great seeing a change in the maths department resulting in more cross year mingling following our efforts.

Slumber Party!

As I mentioned last year, I am also a member of the committee for the Imperial College Netball Club. As a team captain I have been a part of selecting players for teams, writing match reports and working closely with coaches on strategies as well as organising plenty of socials for our team to bond. This term, we’ve had a variety of socials including team dinners, going to sports nights together culminating with a whole club Christmas dinner and a team slumber party!

After missing out on being elected in by a few votes last year, by chance the position of social events officer on MathSoc committee became available and I created a campaign to run for the position. It was a tense week as voting opened and I found out I was running against 5 other candidates but to my delight people voted for me and I was elected in! So much has happened since I joined the committee, we’ve organised numerous socials including pub crawls, ice skating an of course a Christmas Dinner, but most of all I’ve really enjoyed working with the rest of the team and making some great friends.

A successful campaign

I have always wanted to promote better wellbeing care within my department so when the year reps elections came around, it seemed like a no brainer to apply to be my year group’s wellbeing rep. Over the past few weeks I have enjoyed the insight I have gained into what goes into making changes and decisions within the department. We have also held a number of events with the aim of just giving people a break from the stresses of daily life and coursework. In out most popular event people came along the the study room, the heart of the maths department, and helped us put up the Christmas tree, adorn the MLC with tinsel and consume nearly 15 boxes of mince pies!

MathSoc Committee 2018/19

Being a part of all of these amazing things has meant that I have made so many new friends and had plenty to keep me busy where last year I didn’t really feel like I was making the most of my free time. I will however warn everyone in saying that I wouldn’t recommend taking on this much all in one go. Over the course of the year I have sometimes found it difficult to prioritise and have definitely had to make sacrifices including missing out on seeing my friends outside of maths from time to time. However the feeling of creating a successful event or having a good time with my netball team or the MathSoc committee has made it so worth it. This term has been absolutely phenomenal and can’t wait for what next term has to offer!